Best Portable Voice Recorders 2023 in the US | There's One Clear Winner

NOT BAD

January 24, 2022

I have about 4 DIFFERENT (maybe 5) SONY branded voice recorders, since they're kind of awesome at it; ICD-UX570, ICD-UX560BLK, PCM-A10, ICDLX30BLK, that I know of. I might have more. This ranks 3rd, but I have to recommend this over my second place pick and older version UX560BLK since this one is $65 (STILL) and while I paid $65 for the UX560BLK on here, it's now like $170. Essentially those two UX models are the same; just the 570 is a newer version. Pros: -The 570 borrows a lot of design elements from the more expensive PCM line (MY FAVORITE of Sony's but that does 24-Bit 96kHz), so it looks nicer and has a nicer mic capsule setup than the 560. -I've always liked that these recorders decided to go with the retractable USB A design, which is neat and implemented well on all 3 of their models (the ICDLX30BLK doesn't offer that, and uses a miniB connection). -Build quality on this is amazing, it has that old SONY quality feel. Nice metal mic capsules, robust feeling plastic, just all around NICE. -PROPER display tech; a lot of these use TERRIBLE LCDs but like the old school watch LCDs with terrible viewing angles and backlights that destroy visibility. This is pure OLED, not fancy new OLED, single color. White or BLACK, those are the two options you get. With ENOUGH pixel density to make it easy to read menus and see the tiny icons. Also, since it is OLED it means it's relatively easy to see outdoors. -Built in mics: Stereo Separation, and good one at that. Really, REALLY darn good mics. MORE THAN competent enough for lectures, meetings, and memos. In a quiet enough room and at the right distance kept from the mouth you could use this for podcasting. The quality is there. -CD RECORDING QUALITY; this maxes out in WAV 44kHz 16bit two tracks (left and right). Now that's not HD audio levels, that's more 24-bit 96kHz or higher. But that's decent clarity. Good starting out kit. -Podcast studio in your pocket. While this one gets sloppy, it is 100% doable. They do sell dual mic lav systems with silly long cords, that does technically terminate into a 4 pole connector, but you can buy a conversion adapter and usually the dual lav mics come packed with that adapter in the pouch. They're not that bad, like $30 for a good set. So, for around $100 you can have a decent podcasting rig up and running, which is even made better since it can be your "emergency" travel studio setup. That can literally fit into your pocket. -NO SD card limitations; this thing will support them all. I've put 256GB and greater in here. THOUGH realistically, 128GB should be the max needed. Even at MAX settings. I think 128GB yielded 150+hrs of 44kHz 16bit WAV recording. Nearly a week of recording at 24hrs. -TOP MOUNTED JACKS, means you can slip it into the front pocket and not have too much bend and strain on the cables. Also given how thin this is, could slip it into the key pocket without issue as well. Cons: -Going from a 560 to 570, that generation means you lose a lot of nice CREATURE COMFORTS. Two big ones are on the 560 it told you what you were recording in, like what quality; MP3, WAV, etc and what bit rate and hertz. Not only that but the 560 had a VU meter that had numbers on it, showing you how below ZERO you were recording at. SUPPOSEDLY for speaking you're supposed to be at around -8dB. On the 570, it's just dots without numbers. Also the features they did add weren't great. -Pro for some, a con for beginners and people like me; these recorders have OPTIONS, and I mean A LOT OF THEM, and it's hard to zero in on the best quality options, since accidentally mixing one with another one can LITERALLY destroy your sound. AND IF YOU'RE like me, it gets confusing. -Mic Gain control is done in a sloppy and esoteric manner. Wished it was just NUMERICAL VALUES. I'll dedicate a special section to this. But they break up gain into two categories with three sub categories each (low, medium, high) -Built in USB; more good than bad, there is some major bad with it. 1) makes it more fragile, now mine doesn't have a lot of give, and feels sturdy enough but I can see this being a common breaking point. 2) sticks out far from your laptop meaning increased chance of damaging your laptop and recorder if you accidentally drop both. 3) Turns it into a GIANT thumbdrive meaning it's bound to block neighboring USB ports on your PC and potentially your charger as well. -DO NOT TRUST THE SPEAKERS ON THESE, they're TERRIBLE. Not even good for checking to see if it recorded. Since I recorded a session trying test them again for this review, and I thought I butchered the recording, then I pulled out my favorite IEMs and plugged it in and it didn't sound great, but literally sounded 1000x better than what the built in speaker was making it sound like. Tips: -GAIN: As I said, this uses esoteric gain values and they're not naturally logical, in my opinion. If you're recording voice memos, go with "Musical Instruments" not "VOCAL"/"Voice", I KNOW counter intuitive. You'll get WAY BETTER SOUND. So for podcasting, voice memos and LAVS; use MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS settings. I would go with Medium. This is located in two spots: Hold BACK to go to rotating menu; rotate to "Settings" > "Recording Settings" > "Built-in Mic Sensitivity" or "External Input" > "MIC IN: Sensitivity Settings" Here's the gain scale from quietest to the loudest: Low (Music), Medium (Music), Low (voice), High (Music), medium (voice), High (Voice). Low (Music) would use for loud musical recordings and voice memos where you're going to be on top of the mics. Medium (Music) closed piano, violin, acoustic; podcasting, lavaliere use low (voice) if you're putting this on a table and are going to be like 2-3 ft from it and place it between two people, this would be great. High (Music) ??? I don't know. Medium (Voice) ??? Sitting at the opposite end of a conference table of the speaker. High (Voice) sitting in the back of the lecture hall with an un-mic-ed professor. -At the highest bit rate on offer; the internal storage can store over 5hrs of recordings at 44kHz 16-bit LCM WAV. - If your lav has 4 gold bands on it, 3 black bands; YOU WILL need an adapter to use it with this device. TRRS to TRS is usually what they're called, and are usually around 8-12 USD. Not that bad. Conclusion: While I do prefer the 560; at $170 that it's now going for on Amazon, I CAN NOT recommend that. This is basically the exact same thing, slightly newer and with more features, technically. You won't be disappointed. It can become a legit podcast on the go setup. IT technically records at the exact same quality as the PodTrack Pro from ZOOM. IN A MUCH SMALLER form factor. Also, won't feel like you were swindled by this purchase. It punches above its weight and sounds good doing it.

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Sony ICD-UX570 Digital Voice Recorder

VS.

EVISTR 32GB Digital Voice Recorder

Last updated September 2023

Sony ICD-UX570 Digital Voice Recorder

8.5

EVISTR 32GB Digital Voice Recorder

8.3

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NOT BAD

Great choice for anyone who needs to record audio on the go

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